An Alternate Universe
by littledaemon859
Summary: What would Commander Jade Shepard have been like in a Universe without the Reapers? Will she be able to find love in the arms of the man who betrayed her, her rescuer or her childhood friend? Disclaimer: As usual, the playground and characters all belong to Bioware. I am merely playing with them. For those of you who wish to continue reading, find me at Commander Lexus at AO3
1. Chapter 1: The Job

_"28...29...30... ready or not, here I come!" I crouch down lower in the bushes, giggling uncontrollably. Garrus draws closer, following the sound of my laughter. "Come on Jade! You promised a challenge!" I stifle my laughter. Just as I lose sight of him, he shouts "found you!" and grabs me by my waist, lifting me above the bushes. He is surprisingly strong for a ten year old.  
>"Put me down! Put me down!" I laugh, as he pulls me clear of the bushes. We live in a TurianHuman joint colony in the Attican Traverse, on the planet Mindoir, it's a step towards co-existence between our two races. He gently sets me down and I turn to face him, a big grin plastered on my face. "Race you to the Big Mill?" He flares his mandibles in silent agreement, and we race through town, into the corn fields. Just as we reach the mill, the sound of a cruiser stops us in our tracks. We turn to see a strange ship dock at the spaceport. Seconds later, chaos erupts, gunfire and explosions ring out through the settlement, the screams of our families reaching us from far away.  
>Garrus grabs my hand, dragging me behind him. "Jade... remember that secret place?" he looks back at me.<br>"Yes, I remember" tears stream down my face as I futilely pull against his grip. "Garrus! We have to go back! Let me go!" he tightens his grip. Suddenly he stops. "Garrus?" he holds a finger to his mouth, cocking his head. Just then, I hear footsteps and shouts.  
>"Jade, you need to run. Go to our secret place. Hide there, and I'll come find you, OK?" he pushes me forward. "Go!"<br>"Garrus, I'm not leaving you!" I hiss. The footsteps draw closer.  
>"Yes, yes you are" he bolts off, crashing through the corn stalks, making as much noise as possible. He's to fast, I can't possibly follow, so I run towards our hideout. I have just reached the hill when I hear Garrus shout in pain. I turn and see them drag him off towards their ship. Sobbing, I run the rest of the way to our hideout and gently shut the door behind me.<em>

Gasping, I bolt upright in bed, soaking in sweat. It's been a long time since I dreamed of Mindoir, or my childhood friend for that matter. Glancing at my wrist, I see that I have two new messages on my Omni tool. Sighing, I get out of bed and head to the shower. _God... what an awful dream..._ that's the first time in at least five years that I've had that dream. I turn up the heat, letting the hot water soothe my aching muscles. I dry off and get dressed. Sitting on my balcony with a cup of tea I open the message on my Omni tool.  
><em>Shepard:<br>It has come to our attention that a certain Nassana Dantius has been tragically killed by still unknown means. As was implied previously, a transfer of 50,000 credits has been wired to an account under the alias you contacted us with. We hope you will consider us for your services again in the future._

Signed,  
>Rubio Talmer<br>Kassa Fabrication Rep.

Smiling, I access the account, and transfer it to fifty others that will wire it to my main account in ten business days. I then access the second message, from my contact on Omega.  
><em>Shepard:<br>It seems a very important Turian is having some issues regarding one Kasumi Goto. It seems he was robbed by Miss Goto, and is looking for someone to take her down. Considering your interest in contacting her, it would be most prudent to take this opportunity. The would be client is General Oraka, he is seen frequenting the bar Afterlife, in Omega. I am sure you will be able to contact him, if you so choose.  
>Kai Leng<br>_"Hmmm... interesting. I've been looking for an excuse to find her. Thank you General Oraka..." with a sly grin, I stretch and then walk to my garage. "Time to go shopping, I suppose" I steer my car to the presidium shopping district. As I step out of my car, a group of Quarian children run by, laughing at their Krogan companion, who is apparently playing a game of chase with them. _Things like that is what makes the Galaxy great... _walking past the Alien specialized stores, I finally find the store I was looking for. Je' Tame, a franchise straight from Paris itself. Walking in, I am met with more than a few envious stares from the assortment of women in the store. Heading straight for the elegant apparel section, my eyes spot an ebony black dress, made of fine chain links. It is form fitting, and very modern in style. I grab it and head for the dressing room. It fits perfectly, of course. I look in the full length mirror, admiring my high cheekbones, slim jawline, full lips, piercing ice blue eyes, fiery red hair, and slender, yet curvy frame. In the dress, I look so far from an assassin, it's almost funny. It's exactly what it will take to get Oraka's attention though. Changing back into my civilian garb, I exit the dressing room and grab the matching shoes. As I approach the check out line, I see the clerk admiring my body. Most likely thinking I had upgrades done. _Jokes on her, my mom was just as hot as I am, and all natural._ As she rings up the clothes she gives me yet another sideways glance. "It's all natural, you know." she blushes and glances up at me. "My body? It's completely natural, I was born like this. So no before you ask, I can't tell you where I got my upgrades because I have none, aside from the standard Lx9 implant."  
>"I'm terribly sorry Miss Lisbeth! I didn't mean to be rude... it's just, well, your so beautiful, and I thought... but I can see I was wrong" she stutters as she hands me my things. "I hope that I have not ruined our chances of having you back again."<br>"It's all right, I can understand where you are coming from, and you can count on my coming again" she breathes out a sigh of relief. I turn and exit into the Plaza. My stomach growls, so I head to Apollo's Café to grab a bite to eat and reserve a seat on a transport to Omega. The waiter comes and take my order, and I reserve an empty first class cabin to Omega on my Omni tool.  
>"Jade? Is that you?" says a familiar voice behind me.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: An Unusual Occurance

A Drell sits in the seat across from me. "Umm, my I help you sir?" I say, feigning surprise. "I don't believe we've met." he smiles slightly.  
>"It's very nice to meet you, Miss?" he extends his hand in the formal Drell greeting.<br>"It's Miss. Baynham, call me Lisbeth, and it's nice to meet you, Mr.?" he looks surprised at my name.  
>"Mr. Krios, but please call me Thane" now it's my turn to be surprised, why would he use his real name out in public like this? Unless someone paid to have me killed, publically. He must see the anticipation in my eyes, because he makes a calming gesture. "Please, could we take this conversation to a more private location? There are things we need to discuss."<br>"I have a flight to Omega waiting for me actually. Care to join me on the way? We can talk once we've gotten to my private cabin." he nods and stands, motioning me to lead the way. We walk in silence, my hand is on my dagger the whole way to the docking bay. Even with C-Sec surrounding the room, I never take my eyes off him, anticipating that any moment could very well be my last.  
>"If I wanted to kill you, Lisbeth, I would have long before we met" he puts emphasis on the 'met' knowing full well everything I would remember. He used to be my trainer, and partner in crime. He rescued me from Mindoir after finding me during an assignment of his. I've been killing ever since.<br>"I know..." I relax my grip on the dagger just enough to assuage him. "So..." I say as we enter my private cabin "what particular topic would you like to discuss Thane?" he sits, stretching out his legs.  
>"You seem to be doing very well for yourself, Jade." He scans the room, taking in every minute detail. He smiles, I can tell he is lost in a memory.<br>"What are you thinking about?" my voice seems to snap him out of it. He looks at me as the ship takes off, probably wondering if he should tell me or not.  
>"It's not important right now, I may tell you later, but for now... So I hear that you've been quite busy, you have quite the reputation all throughout the Galaxies." He looks proud at this, I blush.<br>"Really? I hadn't heard. I'm surprised even Andromeda heard about me, let alone the other Galaxies. I haven't really been branching out much" sighing I sit across from him. "Honestly, there are so many contracts available here, I think I would be exhausted taking on another Galaxy. I might miss clients that really need my services." he nods.  
>"Yes, I've heard about your small timers as well. I take it they don't pay you well?" I lean back my head.<br>"They don't pay me at all, if their reasons are good enough, and they present me with definitive evidence to support their reasons." I sneak a look at him, he looks surprised.  
>"Really? I hadn't heard." I smile<br>"No, you wouldn't. Their only payment to me is that they keep the fact that they didn't pay a secret... Don't want people to be expecting handouts." He laughs.  
>"No, you really don't, do you? So why don't you make them pay, other than having a good reason? Any other assassin would." I look at him, pain filling my heart.<br>"I'm not 'any other assassin' Krios... I thought you would know that by now." He's remembering how he saved me from Mindoir, I can tell. "I know exactly how hard it is for lower class. Any help I can give them, no matter how small, I will. No payment necessary." He nods again, the cabin is silent for a moment. He leans forward, clearly troubled about something, and I go on red alert.  
>"I have a proposal for you." he isn't meeting my eyes. I watch his every movement carefully, waiting for him to strike. "How would you like your partner in crime, back at your side?" He meets my eyes, and leans back. I suddenly understand why he looked so pained. Any assassin worth his name would be hard pressed to trust another with a job, and he is expecting me to refuse. His eyes are so hopeful, that I can't say no.<br>"Alright, sounds good. Maybe we can tackle a wider net of contracts working together." he looks so relieved, it almost makes me want to cry... I'll have to ask him about that later... something MUST have happened for him to be acting this way. "So, how would you like to hear about a possible client?" he smiles and leans forward.  
>"Who's the mark?" he asks, I can already see a plan forming as I tell him about Oraka, and brief him on my dealings with all clientele. He smiles "So, I take it you have something nice to wear right? Afterlife is a fairly exclusive place." I laugh at his lack of faith.<br>"I have been doing this for around 12 years now. I know what I'm doing Krios. They'll let me in, trust me... but how are YOU getting in?" I look him up and down, evaluating the quality and price of his clothes. "You need something nicer to wear if you want to be seen with Miss. Baynham." he smiles.  
>"Well Miss. Lisbeth, what are YOU wearing that outshines my own attire? Surely not THAT dress." He pauses, examining the way the fine silk clings to my curves. He clears his throat, and I pull out the black dress I bought prior. He stares blankly at the dress, then me, and then the dress again. I raise my eyebrows. "It seems as though you will have no trouble getting in, Jade." I blush slightly as I put the dress back in the bag. "Well, when we get to Omega, I'll head straight to the markets and get something that matches that...dress." I smile, and lean back in my seat. As the flight progresses, we exchange stories on marks, and how we took care of them. He laughed when I told him about the Elcor diplomat Xeltan, and how I was able to get close enough to kill him.<br>"Well, you see.. he always frequented Chora's den, and they were short a dancer for the night..." he laughs.  
>"I take it you got rid of that dancer?" I shake my head<br>"Yes, I gave her some sedatives, and delivered her safely home. But it just so happens that she was the bars only human dancer, so when I proved my skills, Fist let me have my own table. It also just so happens that Xeltan has a thing for human women, and he was more than happy to sit in the empty chair at my table. Of course, after dancing for 2 hours, he wanted me to get a little closer..." he chuckles "and I was more than happy to oblige. So, as I was dancing... on him... I used a bit of slight of hand to place a demolition charge at the base of his skull. When he finally left, I got changed and went to admire my handiwork. You see I had it set that if he went more than ten meters outside of the bar, it would detonate. There was such a mess, and there was only one person to blame, Miss Abigail Warner... the person I replaced." He looks confused.  
>"How did you manage that?" I hold up my Omni tool.<br>"With a specially made program that alters the data in a persons brain to my will. Very dangerous, high tech stuff. It's not even on the market yet."  
>"Where did you get it?" he asks, genuinely surprised.<br>"One of my contacts in an Alliance Black-Ops. His name is Kai Leng." he slowly leans back and looks me steadily in the eyes.  
>"Why are you working with Cerberus? They're Alliance! You could get caught easily." I shake my head and laugh.<br>"Don't worry about it Leng is madly in love with me. He's like a loyal lapdog, I let him report my movements to Cerberus, and occasionally do their dirty work for them, and they keep me protected from the Alliance Brass. Honestly, it's a great deal I've got worked out." he eyes me warily.  
>"I would watch my back around them, if I were you. You can't trust the Alliance to keep you safe forever."<br>"Which is exactly why I am the one that chooses who I approach for a contract. They leak that they want someone killed, and if I accept, I go to them. I take every precaution of course. I still remember what you taught me." he nods briskly, he really doesn't like my contingency plan... "So I take it you want out then..." I feel like crying. If he says yes... I might just have to kill him for getting my hopes up.  
>He looks startled "What? No! I still want in... just keep us a secret from them... wouldn't want your lover getting jealous, now would we?" he says 'lover' with such spite can't help but laugh.<br>"Hardly! He's just someone I am with casually to keep things peaceful. He's the one who thinks it's serious. I'm just using him for the tech and intel." I laugh again. "I guess it doesn't hurt that he's good in bed..." He raises his brow at me. "Oh, don't look at me like that! What? A girl can't appreciate talent when she sees it?" I say innocently, and evil grin on my face. He is thoughtful for a moment, shrugs, and closes his eyes, leaning back.  
>"Wake me when we get there." he mumbles, drifting off quickly. Through the rest of the flight, I take the time to admire him, his strong, hard muscles, his clean lined, strong body structure, his handsome facial features. The ultimate bad boy is sitting right in front of me, and yet I can't bring myself to touch him, to wake him from his peaceful state. The ship docks, and his eyes snap open before I can look away. He meets my eyes for what seems like a long time. I look away and grab my things. When I see he still hasn't moved, I lift my brow at him.<br>"You coming or are you just gonna sit there, staring at my gorgeous self?" He smiles wryly and stands, following me to the Omega Market District. "Let's see if we can't find you something snazzy to wear." his low chuckle makes my heart skip a beat... what is wrong with me?


	3. Chapter 3: Afterlife

I hold up the perfect suit, all black of course, with a white shirt underneath. He shakes his head in disagreement. "Come on! It's perfect for you! Who is the woman here?" he sighs and takes the suit from me, heading to the dressing room.  
>"It's will not look good on me, I'm telling you right now." I wave him off and sit in the chair by the dressing room. My Omni tool reads 3:00 p.m. It's almost time to get myself ready.<br>"Hurry up in there. We can't take all day you know. I do have a dress to squeeze on." he laughs and exits the dressing room. Like a fool he buttoned the shirt all the way, he looks like he's heading to a board room meeting instead of a night club. I sigh "You look like someone's secretary, come here and let me fix it." He steps forward, and I stat to undo the buttons. He gets very still, and I am hit with the sexy scent of sandalwood and good cologne. I clear my throat and back up, satisfied that I did my job... and boy did I ever. I lead him to the mirror and show him my handiwork. With the buttons undone, he is exposing much of his strong chest and the unbuttoned jacket gives it a casual, yet sexy, 'I don't give a damn' appearance. Definitely a dangerous look for him. I see many women admiring him as well.  
>"Am I now appropriately dressed to your standards, Miss. Lisbeth?" I glare at the surrounding female populace.<br>"Yes, yes you are. Now go get changed so we can pay and head to my place." he looks puzzled.  
>"Just how any places do you have?" he exclaims. I smile, if only he knew.<br>"A lot, I have a lot of places. Now hurry! I have a lot to do to make myself sexy for our friend." he hurries off to the dressing room, while I pull up Miss Lisbeth's account. When he emerges I pay for the clothes and we head to a rapid transit station where I had a chauffer bring out my private car. "Get in." he sits, admiring the quality of the interior as I power up my car.  
>"This is very nice"<br>"Yep" I drive off, heading to my public apartment to have the car scanned for bugs. When it comes up clear, I drive to my private condo, landing my car on the port at my balcony. "Home sweet home" he gets out slowly, admiring the view. "Come on, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." I lead him through the condo, and into the guest bedroom on the second floor, complete with a private bathroom and balcony. "So this is your room, you have everything you could possibly want, and as this is available for all races, you can make this rooms air as dry as you want." he looks impressed.  
>"Thank you." he says. I shall get changed then." I nod and leave the room, gently closing the door behind me. I head up to my third floor room, and shed my clothes, turning on the shower. As I wait for the water to heat up, I admire my recent tattoo. She really did a good job. It is a scythe with the names of all the people I had lost under the blade, on the blade is "Whatever wrong I have done, By thought, word or deed, I ask for absolution." The blade curves around my breast, leaving the quote for forgiveness right over my heart. There are so many names, I have to look away before the guilt strikes again. Now that the water is heated to my desire, I step in and soak, letting what remains of my tension be worked away by the steamy water. After lathering in a rich apple smelling soap, I get out, dry off and blow dry my hair. Then I put it into a half up bun, and curl it. Then I apply a light amount of smoky makeup and some vibrant red lipstick, offsetting the blue in my eyes and making them glow. Then I slip on my dress, and adjust it to fit my curves perfectly. I slip on my black stilettoes, and walk into the living room. I pull up Afterlife on my Omni tool and make reservations to be there at 10. It's six now, so I decide to go over the notes Leng sent me on Oraka. I go to stand on the balcony and watch the cars fly by and pull up Oraka's file. He is very interesting. Likes Humans, and sometimes goes for males as well. He likes whiskey and, thanks to an innovation fifty years ago, he has no allergies to non-dextro foods or drinks... or people. Got to love modern science... makes impossible relationships completely possible. Behind me I hear footsteps, I don't dare take my eyes off the file, even as he stands next to me. "So... anything interesting in that file?" he asks innocently.<br>"No, not really, just making sure I can keep his interest long enough to get him somewhere private." he nods as I close the file and look out at the city. "So I was thinking, we go in separately, you first to scope the situation, and then I come in when you give the all clear. Usually I would have a homeless child do it for a few creds, but now I needn't spend the money." he glances at me and then away.  
>"Kids?" I nod<br>"They can go where you and I can't, and you can never be too careful about these things. It could always be a trap. But they won't be expecting you, if there is anyone in there." he nods. "Then you give the all clear, and I'll work my magic. When we leave together, follow us and make sure we aren't followed." he turns toward me.  
>"Then what will you do when you are alone with him?" I smile.<br>"I'll introduce myself, and we will proceed to negotiate. He will be surprised, of course. They always are." he laughs.  
>"I can imagine, I'd be surprised too, if I had thought I was going to score big, and then found out it was all a ploy to negotiate a contract." I laugh.<br>"You would probably have been expecting it, though. You are you, after all." he shrugs. "It's a lovely view, isn't it?" I glance at him.  
>"Yes, it certainly is." I can hear a double meaning in his words, and I feel him looking at me. I meet his eyes, eyebrow cocked.<br>"You making a pass at me, Krios?" I say jokingly. He clears his throat, looks away, and smiles sheepishly.  
>"Maybe I was." I blush, hiding my surprise, and laugh it off. My heart is beating a mile a minute, and I'm pretty sure he can hear it. I slow my heart rate and even my breathing. He shoots me a questioning glance, and I wave it off.<br>"Heart condition." I lie, and he looks concerned. I feel really bad now... well crap. My Omni tool beeps at me. "Time for us to go." I say walking briskly to my car locking my condo down. As we head to Afterlife, I can feel him watching me. God, he's driving me crazy. "Is there any particular reason you're staring at me, Mr. Krios?" he looks away, obviously startled that I could feel him watching.  
>"Nope, just imagining Oraka's expression when you tell him your true purpose." I laugh, not the least bit convinced, but still slightly disappointed.<em> He's so<em> _much older than you! Get a grip woman! In truth, he is only six years older than me. He's 30 and I'm 24... it's not that weird right? Ugg! Why am I trying to justify and age difference when the defining truth is he's my old instructor? You are never supposed to want to sleep with your teacher... he's just so intense and..._ "You missed the turn."  
>"Shit!" I flip us around and land gracefully near the entrance. Stepping out, I throw the chauffer my keys. "Don't scratch it" Thane steps out and looks at me strangely.<br>"You know, I hear it's safe to pay attention when you drive" I scoff and motion for him to enter.  
>"I reserved you under a Mr. Koliat, and no I didn't specify a last name. Show the bouncer this and you should get in." I hand him a special issue pass, and let him enter. He gets through with no problem, and I can tell from the women who were gawking at him as he entered, I did well in making him belong in this crowd. Ten minutes later he sends me a message that it's clear, and I glide to the door. The bouncer doesn't even ask for a card, he just lets me pass and I place a chit for 500 creds into his front pocket as I pass. I hear envious hisses from the females in line, and protests from others at my walking in. Smiling, I saunter in and find my mark quickly. He is in a table at the back, watching the entrance, and therefore me, as I continue to scan the club, as if measuring the worth of staying. Making my approval clear, I head for the bar and order bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy. The bartender rushes to get my drink and, feeling bad for the poor guy, I placate him with a friendly smile, and a hand on his arm to calm him. Removing my hand from his arm, I fill my shot glass with some brandy and knock it back, with none of the interesting facial expressions made by the less experienced drinkers in the bar. Shaking my head, I continue to finish the bottle, not the least bit affected by the alcohol, due to my Lx9 implant's capacity to increase my metabolism. Standing to dance, I pay the bartender and tip him heavily, then head to the dance floor. As I am a vey good, provocative dancer (I took some stripping lessons) I have the attention of almost every male in the bar. A few approach me, but I turn most of them down. I can see Oraka watching me intently, I'm waiting for him to make his move. Just as he gets up, I feel another gaze on me. I turn in time to the music to see Thane watching me intently. When he sees Oraka approach me, he nods approvingly and moves into the shadows. I turn with the music again, coming face to face with Oraka. He holds out his hand and I take it, and then we're dancing together. He is a surprisingly good dancer, and I am enjoying myself as he leads me through a tango. As we dance, more and more people stop to watch us, no surprise there. We are both very intense people, and the music sets the perfect mood. At the end of the song, he dips me, and I can tell he is staring at my exposed neck. He motions for me to join him at his table as the crowd applauds. I nod and follow him, sitting next to him when we reach the booth.<br>"So, what is a gorgeous woman like you doing in a place like this? You should be somewhere nicer, like Illium." I smile and bat my eyes at him, leaning in close so he can smell me better. His file said he likes apples.  
>"Well, this is a very nice place as well, very exclusive. The name is Miss. Baynham, but please call me Lisbeth." He inhales for longer than it takes to breathe so I know he appreciates my perfume.<br>"Yes, but... anyone can get in here if they save up enough. In Flux you have to make a reservation and be an important person. I know who you are Lisbeth."  
>"Oh?"<br>"You are an heiress, and a major investor in many companies that supply the Turian Militia." I act impressed.  
>"Only high ranking Members of the Turian Government are able to access investor files... you must be very high up, Mr.?"<br>"Oraka, Admiral Oraka." An admiral now? When did that happen? I really need to talk to Kai about updating the files when they change, that Boshtet.  
>"Admiral? Oh my... you are important!" he flares his mandibles in a smile. "So... Admiral. If you are so intent on taking me somewhere nice, maybe we should go somewhere more... private, perhaps?" his eyes light up.<br>"Yes, and I know just the place too! I'll reserve it right now!" he presses some buttons on his Omni tool and I signal Thane that it's almost time to go. He nods and moves to a flanking position at the bar. "Alright, it's done! Let's go." We head to Oraka's car and I covertly drop my keycard to my car. Thane picks it up without anyone noticing and gets the chauffer to bring the car tipping him heavily. As we drive, I see him following me from a safe distance. We pull up at The Wards hotel and Casino, and check in. "Care to gamble?"  
>"No, I don't want to lose my whole fortune in one night." he laughs and we head to the room. He opens the door while I send the room number to Thane. He opens the door and I enter. "So Oraka, now that we are finally alone, we can get down to business." I turn around, and find him very close to me. I back up a step. "Please, allow me to reintroduce myself," he stops in his advance, lifting a brow plate "My name is Jade Shepard and I hear you are having a few problems with one Kasumi Goto? Please, tell me all about her." He looks very confused, then realization dawns and he sighs, looking very disappointed. There is a knock on the door and I go to it and seeing that it's Thane, I open the door and let him in. He nods and takes a seat on he couch. Sitting propped up on the pillows on the bed, I motion for Oraka to sit down. "Please, tell us everything." He then proceedes to tell us about how Kasumi stole all his money, and did who knows what with it. He wants her to give the money back, or die, as the situation warrants. Seeing as I wanted to recruit her, this was fine by me. And if she wouldn't pay then I would, as a show of good will. "Do you know where she might be headed next?"<br>"Yes. The Andromeda Galaxy, she is going to rob the Shadow Broker... she is located somewhere in Illium. I don't know what she calls herself but it's definitely an Asari."  
>"Well that really narrows it down..." Thane sighs. <em>Great another goose chase.<em>  
>I nod "Well then that's where we are going. Thank you for you patronage Admiral." I get up and Thane follows me out the door and to the car.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4: The Heist

_***Please, feel free to critique my work, and give me ideas for the next chapters, as I usually have to bounce ideas off others to keep my creativity going. Thank you for reading, and please comment your opinions!***___  
>Back on the Citadel, driving back to the apartment after scanning for bugs or trackers, I find that Thane is still staring at me. Curious as to how long he would keep it up, I say nothing, and instead attune my body to the cars surrounding me, all while keeping a carefully hidden eye on Krios.<em> Didn't anyone ever tell him staring is very rude? Apparently not, because he is still doing it. What is his problem?<em> I let out a long sigh, and glance over at him. "Anything in particular on your mind Krios?" he turns his attention to the window on his side.  
>"No, just wondering who taught you to dance like that, it certainly wasn't me." I snort a laugh.<br>"You're most certainly right about that Krios... your dancing skills are quite lacking." He scoffs and acts offended.  
>"You question my dancing abilities, simply because I prefer stealth to making a scene?" <em>Exuse me? Oh... oh no he didn't...<em>  
>"You really want to go there Krios? Just because you 'prefer' stealth, doesn't mean you're any good at it." I glance over at him, grinning like a kid at Christmas. This is gonna be fun, if I can get him to cooperate.<br>"You know what Jade? Let's. Let's go there. You want to play? I'm down to play, and you had better hope that I have the kindness to hold back my natural affinity for this sort of thing." I glare at him.  
>"Challenge accepted, but let's up the stakes. I win, and you have to go clubbing with me." I do believe that he looks sick.<br>"Fine, but if I win... you have to do 20 reps of suicides. You remember those, don't you Jade?" Now it's my turn to be sick. I remember all too well my least favorite training exercise/punishment/cruel and unusual torture. One rep requires me to do 500 push-ups, 500 curl-ups, 200 pull-ups, lift sacks of corn grain and toss them over my head for an hour, and then run 50 miles in under 2 1/2 hours. It is literal Hell, and to do 20 is to be gasping on the floor, dying slowly and painfully. And in the rare occasions I couldn't finish my suicides, I was forced to fight a combat sim on the hardest level, which is almost as bad as one suicide. Oddly, instead of scaring me off, it gives me a grim sort of determination.  
>"Deal," he looks at me, clearly surprised at my answer. "So, we are going to break into the bank in the Presidium Commons. How does that sound?" he grins at me and nods approvingly. Security will be tight, but breaking in won't get us as much jail time as any of the larger banks would. Changing course, I steer the car to the Presidium Commons to wait for closing time at the bank.<p>

It's nearing Midnight, but the security is still villagently watching the perimeter._ It'll be tight, but not impossible... I hope_. "You ready to get beat, Krios?" he stifles a laugh.  
>"In your dreams, Shep." He truly has no idea how much I've blossomed as an assassin.<em> Jokes on him, cause he's about to find out<em>. I wait for the guard to turn the corner, and then I'm off, making almost no sound as my feet hit the floor. I run up the wall and grab the ledge, using my upper body strength to flip me up and over the edge, all in one smooth, elegant motion.  
>"Like a freakin' ballerina!" I whisper to Thane. The corner of his mouth twitches slightly up as he pulls the same move, in a slightly less dignified, yet no less graceful climb to my side. He motions for me to lead, gentleman that he is, and I lead the way silently over the roof, gracefully dodging all the motion detectors and laser beams invisible to the naked eye. I, of course, have my eccelent eyesight from specially made contacts, given to me by Leng, courtesy of Cerberus. He, quite obviously, has to follow my movements exactly, or else he would trip every alarm in the building, bumbling around in the dark. When we get to the air vent, I flip onto the top and offer a hand up to Thane. He takes it, and I haul him up, till we are standing nose-to-nose on the vent. He jumps to the other vent as I check for alarms or lasers that would prevent me from opening the vent. Finding only a small trigger switch, I quickly disarm it and gently remove the grate from the vent shaft. Peering down, I see no alarms in the direct vicinity of the bottom of the shaft. I motion to Thane, and he jumps over, and slides down silently, bracing himself against the walls of the shaft to prevent plummeting straight to the bottom. He shifts his shoulders to bear my weight, and I gently ease my weight onto him, closing the grate and keeping us from being found out before we've had a chance to have some real fun. Taking my weight off him by bracing myself against the ventalation shaft, I give him time to slide down and make room for me, and then I silently follow, gently braking before I reach the lip of the tunnel. To my surprise, Thane grabs my waist and eases me down to the floor, placing me on my feet and then moves aside to let me lead the way. My heart is racing a mile a minute again, and my skin tingles through the fabric where his hands were. <em>God damn, what's my problem? He just helped me down so that i could lead the way through their security, is all. No need to get worked up about it. <em>I steady my heart rate again, and Thane flashes me a concerned glance. I wave him off, feeling crappy about my little white lie. Shaking off the feeling, I put all my attention to the task at hand, slowly but surely leading Thane through all the traps, and into the bank vault door room. I jump out of the shaft, landing gracefully on the balls of my feet, and uncoil my body to stand aside to let Thane jump down as well. He lands like a cat, gracefully standing, and like an idiot, tries to walk towards the vault. He very narrowly misses a laser as I yank him back to the safe zone. He glares at me, and I motion for him to stay there, and walk to the edge of the safe zone. I pull out my concealer compact and blow off the excess particles. Now he can clearly see the laser field. He looks ashamed, as he should. It was a rookie mistake that almost cost us the vault. I plot a course through the laser maze, and get to work, gently easing myself under and over lasers, having to resort to wild contortions, or daring flips, that even a stray hair could ruin. Lady Luck is on my side tonight, though, and I glide through without a hitch. Across the field of lasers, Thane is nodding approvingly, with a more than impressed look on his face. I can feel myself blush, but I hide it with a bow, and get to work on disabling the laser field. When it is done, I motion Thane over and give him a hacking moduel. He looks confused, and I just give him a 'how did you get around without me?' look and he shrugs sheepishly. Shaking my head, I reactivate the field, before someone can notice and check the room. Taking the hacking moduel from him, I plug it into my Omni tool, and the safes' encryption field. It takes me 30 minutes to crack, and boy did it make me work, then I scan the safe for alarms, and finding two, I use a concentrated mass effect field to disable the devices. Satisfied that the safe is cleared to open, I activate the magnet bolts and the door swings silently open. Leading Thane in, I pull a credit chit off the wall, and demonstrate how to use it, and transfer it to different accounts. Then I send him to one side, and I tackle the other, making sure to place everything exactly the way I found it. Thane does the same and it takes us only 20 minutes to get through the entire contents of the safe. Then I close the safe behind us and lock it, reactivate the defenses, and re-enable the camera inside. I take down the field, allowing Thane to pass, then turn it back on, and weave through it again. Then I boost him through the shaft and grab the grate, allowing him to pull me inside. I then close the grate and re-activate the camera, taking off the loop I had it on. Then it's back through the ventalation shaft, and up to the roof. I close the grate and re-arm the trigger, and lead Thane off the roof, through the bushes, the alley, and to the parking lot, driving away with just under 20 million creds, and all before opening time at 0500. I let Thane drive this time, and tranfer all the money off station to an account on the Planet Nixus in the Palladin Galaxy. "So, I think that I won, considering all the stuff I led you through tonight." He nods his head in reluctant agreement, and docks my car at my balcony carport.  
>"I had no idea you were as good of a thief as you are an assassin." I smile as I step out and unlock the door to my Manse in the Zakera Wards.<br>"Well, we do have a lot to tell each other from our time apart. It's good to have my old instructor back by my side, once again unable to find anything wrong with my performance." he laughs, his deep voice resonating off the stone walls. "Well, I don't know about you, Krios, but I am beat, so I'm gonna go and get some rack time, and you should as well. We have a busy night ahead of us tommorrow." I laugh evilly, and head up the stairs to my room. "Oh! I almost forgot! Your room is this first door on the left, on the second floor. I'll show you the other rooms when I'm not dead walking." He nods, and stretches his very toned arms and chest and my heart speeds up again. I brace my hand on the railing and steady my heart rate again. Just then I am aware of him very close behind me, looking at me with unfiltered concern.  
>"Jade? Are you all right?" I nod and smile, and start up the stairs again, making sure my heart doesn't start racing again.<em> Maybe it's his fault.<em> I almost laugh._ This can't be happening, I can't have a crush on him, He's like 8 years older than me and that's like... what? 20 years in drell years? I don't even know what to think anymore. I mean... does it really matter? I'll live to be like, 150, and he'll be lucky if he lives to 85. Get a handle on yourself Jade. Do not become emotionally compromised. It'll just end badly for the both of you._ I collapse into bed, and dose off immediately. /p


	5. Chapter 5: The Duct

_I muffle my sobs as the sound of footsteps gets closer. Far away, I can still hear the screams as the Raiders rape and pillage the colony. The sounds of gunshots are less and less, as more of our people die fighting the oncoming Raiders. Not but and hour ago, another cruiser arrived, and took out the Alliance and Turian troops fighting for the Colony. There is no way they can be Batarian slavers, or even Collectors... there is just no way. The footsteps stop above me, and I can hear a slight shuffling as dirt is moved away from the door. I scramble quietly under the table just as the door swings open. I hear a creak on the bottom stair, and peek under the table cloth. A pair of lightly worn boots are stopped not but a foot away from me, facing in the other direction. The feet turn and walk to the small window not visible from the outside. _Oh God no, I have to sneeze_. I can't stop it so I try my best to muffle it with my shirt. The feet turn towards the table, and slowly head towards me. There is no way out but to run, so I bolt for the stairs to the door. I hear the person dart after me, swearing under his breath. I burst out of the door and take off running, as fast as I possibly can. I can hear my attacker catching up, so I kick up my speed a notch. I'm running as fast as I possibly can, but it's still not enough. My attacker runs up and tackles me, flipping me over and placing a firm hand over my mouth. Instead of a bug-like creature, I am looking into the face of a Drell, maybe 16 or so, and he gives me a level look before placing a finger on his lips, telling me to be quiet. Not far off, I hear a group of Bug-people walk by, talking in a strange language. I whimper softly, and he makes a calming gesture. The minutes tick by, slowly turning to hours, before the group moves on to another part of the colony. He then slowly takes his hand off my mouth, raising his brow at me, and when I nod he releases me. I scramble to my feet, my fists clenched with what I hope is a fierce look on my face. He smiles placating, and rises to his feet. He is significantly taller than me, and I have to crane my neck all the way back to look him in the eye. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" He backs up a step, bows and whispers  
>"My name is Thane Krios, and I am saving your life, it seems." I glare at him. Why is he bothering with me and not helping my friends and family. I march towards the colony, feeling very, very ticked off at having been beaten by a boy to selfish to risk his life to save my people. He grabs my arm "Where do you think you're going?" he hisses. I try to pull away, to no avail.<br>"I am going to go find my Mom and Pop." I glare at him, challenging him. A look of sorrow from him tells me all I need to know.  
>"What is your name, child?"<br>"I am not a child, and my name is Jade, Jade Shepard." he nods as if suspecting this.  
>"You look a lot like your mother, Jade. In her final moments, she asked me to take you from this place. She told me to tell you 'After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began.'" I fall to the ground, sobbing. My mother made me memorize it, it is an old Quarian poem that a Quarian friend of my Mom had taught her. She was obsessed with the Quarians, loved their songs especially. Thane offers a hand to me, and I take it, letting him lead me to his ship. When we arrive onto the loading bay, I turn and look out at my old home. Everything I had ever known... destroyed. I close my eyes and walk into the loading bay...<em>

Gasping, I bolt upright. My sheets are soaked again, and my pillow has wet marks from where my tears fell. I leave my bed, and turn on the shower. While I wait for the water to heat up, I turn around and find the tattoo on the back of my ribcage. "After time adrift among open stars..." I stop, feeling the tears pooling in my eyes. I enter the shower, allowing the steam to clear my mind and body of all stress. As I bathe, I find my mind wandering to Thane, and the almost brotherly role he took on as my trainer...

_ "I want to learn, Krios! I don't want to be weak any more! Help me to be like you!" I cry, I can feel my composure slipping. He starts to walk away, so I grab his arm and pull hard, causing him to stumble backwards. "I can do it! I can learn! I really can!" He turns towards me.  
>"You are asking me to do something that goes against my morals. I promised your mother I would protect you! I will not ruin your life by teaching you how to kill, Jade. I will not."<br>"Fine! Don't teach me then! I'm sure that Javik can teach me anything I need to know." Javik is Thane's Prothean partner. He looks absolutely furious.  
>"No, he won't. I won't let him."<br>"Oh? And how are you going to stop him? He even thinks I should be learning these things! What are YOU going to do to change his mind?" He wilts slightly, knowing he can't take Javik in a fight. I smile triumphantly up at him. "So, when do I start?"_

I turn off the shower and step out. The time reads 0450. My God, I was asleep for almost a whole day! I get dressed into my exercise gear and head down to the second floor. I stop by Thane's room, but it is still dark and quiet in there, so I assume he is sleeping. I walk down the hallway to the third door down and enter, turning on the lights and gently closing the door behind me. I turn and scan the room, debating as to what exercise I should start with today. As I'm still feeling stressed, I resolve to do some Yoga. To start, I go into the Child Pose, and then do some Sun Salutations as a light warm up. I'm in the middle of the Scorpion Pose when Thane walks in wearing nothing but some sweatpants. My heart goes to my throat as I realize I'm in yoga pants and a sports bra. I look away and try to concentrate on holding my pose perfectly, for fear of losing my balance. "Sup?" I say as casually as I can. He shrugs, heads to the bench press, and gets to work, his strong arms easily lifting the 200 lbs. he added to the bar. I keep my cool, and focus on evening my heart rate to promote better balance. After I've held that pose for another 10 minutes, I gently release my body from the pose, and move into a calming Dhyana pose, continuing to slow my heart rate until it almost disappears entirely. I am barely breathing, deep in a meditative state, relaxing every fiber of my being, until all the stress leaves my body. Then I slowly raise it again, careful not to start it up too fast, and cause more problems than I had just repaired. As I slowly bring myself back, I am aware that the soft grunts from Thane's lifting have stopped. Without opening my eyes, I lay on my back and focus on my breathing, making sure I am fully relaxed before opening my eyes and sitting up. I look over at the bench press to see that Thane is watching me again. I am suddenly very aware of how late it is. "What time is it?" he shakes his head and checks his Omni tool.  
>"It's 15:35. You've been like that for almost 14 hours. I was very worried." I laugh, sure that he is lying, and look at my Omni tool. Oh shit, he wasn't lying! How is that even possible? I look at him, feeling very confused.<br>"Well, it's a good thing you didn't wake me, otherwise you would've overstressed my heart, and probably cause a tear." I shake my head. "I'm sorry I made you worried, I guess I just had a lot more stress to work out than I thought." I stand, and head to the door. "Well, I'm gonna go take a shower and get ready. You should do the same." he grimaces and I laugh, enjoying being able to torment him like this. It is appropriate payback for all the times he tortured me with suicides. After luxuriating in the shower for a few, I dry off and put on my party clothes and makeup. My outfit consists of a black silk, low-cut, crop top and a black lace miniskirt, and spiked black leather, knee-high boots with a heel and a lace choker. I lined my eyes with some charcoal black and grey, put on some pink lip gloss, and straightened my hair into a sleek pony tail reaching my lower back. Feeling like it's missing something, I search through my jewelry box and pull out a silver wrist cuff. I stand in the mirror and admire myself. Damn, I look good. Feeling like a sexy beast, I walk downstairs and into the living room. I turn on the TV and switch it to the News. "Oh, well look at that..."  
>"Look at what?" I turn, startled that I did not hear him come up behind me.<br>"Damn, Krios! Give a girl a heart attack, why don't you?" He doesn't even blink. I need to take him to a poker game, or something... I give him a sly smile. "Turns out that a bank was hit last night, and they took everything, all without leaving a single trace of them being there. They are especially confused as to how they managed to enter, and get through all the systems without tripping a single one." I hold up my hand for a high five. He cocks his head to the side, and furrows his brow. Sighing, I grab his wrist and guide his hand through the high five. I drop his wrist, shaking my head at him, and walk towards the car. He turns off the TV and follows me out the door, locking it behind him. As we drive towards The Duct, Thane tells me everything he knows about the Andromeda Galaxy. It is the home of the Protheans, the race of people that attacked Mindoir. They are far more advanced, and have been trying to take over our colonies for almost a decade. Most of Andromeda is a war zone, with only a fraction of it conquered by the Council forces. Most of the civilians, and important leaders were on the far side of the Galaxy, in a safe zone created by a mass effect field that fries the systems of any unwanted ship. Nodding, I land my car in a parking spot, and exit, locking it behind me and Thane. I lead him through the Commons, and into an alley. At the end of the alley is a dead end, stretching up to the next level of the Commons. Looking up I whistle, and a man leans over the Balcony. I pull out my member pass, and he disappears. Seconds later, the cloaking device is released and a door appears in front of us. I knock three times, pause and knock twice. The slit in the door opens and a man says  
>"What's the passphrase?"<br>"The Night be with you."  
>"And also with you." He closes the slit and opens the door wide, allowing Thane and I entry.<br>"Welcome back, Shepard. We missed your smiling face down here." I laugh and bump fists with the bouncer, and he slams the door shut behind us. I head towards the stairs, but Thane stops me.  
>"The Night?" I laugh.<br>"The Night, the essence of the Goddess of Night? Ever heard of her? No, you wouldn't have, would you? Well, it means something different for everyone, but tonight it means Samhain, the time to celebrate the dead and remember times with those you've lost, or some such crap. I don't really know if I explained it right. It's just what the owners believe, so the members play along to get in, whether they believe or not." He nods, but still looks confused. I let out a dramatic sigh and motion for him to follow as I walk down the stairs. I can feel my heart rate picking up, and I don't bother to hide it this time. I feel like a kid in a candy store, and I can't wait to get to the bottom. Halfway down, a deep, pulsing beat reaches us, and my heart rate kicks up even more, pounding in time to the music. Finally, we reach the end of the stairs, and come across not one, but five couples making out. I laugh and pick up my pace, eager to get into the thick of things. Thane catches up to me as I reach the edge of the throng of dancers. "God! It feels electric in here! You can practically see the energy!" I have to shout so he can hear me. He nods, and makes a drinking motion with his hand. I nod in agreement, and grab his hand, weaving him through the crowd, and to the bar. Once we have finally freed ourselves from the masses, I drop his hand and find two empty seats at the bar. I lean over the counter and wave the bartender over. He dances the whole way to me and takes our order. I order a Porn Star shot and Thane orders a shot of Batarian whiskey. I knock mine back, as does he, and before I know it we have drunk at least 20 shots each, and I'm only feeling slightly buzzed. Thane looks to be holding up reasonably well, considering his metabolism isn't nearly as high as mine. He has an Lx8 implant instead of an Lx9. I drink my 21st shot, and then I stop the bartender from giving me more. "Let's go see if you're as good of a dancer as you think you are." I can barely hear his laugh over the music. I get up and pull him behind me into the middle of the crowd. I pause for a second, letting the music and surrounding energy fill me. I get a feel for the beat, and attune my body to the thumping bass. Then I'm dancing, and I feel like I'm on fire. A group of girls let me into their circle, and we're all laughing and dancing doing stupid, funny dance moves just for the hell of it. It's around then that I start to feel very... mischievous. I scan the room for Thane and find him dancing alone... it's rather funny, just how bad he sucks at dancing. It occurs to me that he is watching me again, so I wave him over. When he shakes his head, I pout, and find a random Asari from the group. She's had her eye on me all night, and since she's A-sexual, who cares right? So I wave her over, and then we're all over each other, she leans close and says  
>"I saw you with that Drell. You want to make him jealous?" she pulls back to look at me and I nod. So she comes up behind me and signals for me to start grinding on her. She keeps an eye on Thane for me, and gives me various descriptions of what she thinks is going through his head. Key word being 'thinks,' because his poker face is in full force right now. "Oh! He's coming over!" She squeals, "Just gonna say, you're welcome, because mmm mmm mmm, is he cute!" I laugh as Thane grabs my arm and pulls me away. I put on a pouty face<br>"What did you that for?" no response. "What? I'm not allowed to have fun?" Still nothing, just blank. "Why do you even care who I dance with?" he blinks, looks away, and then back at me. I raise my brow at him. No... freaking...way...how the hell does he do that? Just completely blank faced, staring me down like that is not cool. I sigh "Is it because she's Asari? You know I'm not lesbian, right?" Not even a muscle twitch. "What, Krios. Are you jealous or something?" Bam! That gets a reaction... a panicked one, but a reaction nonetheless. "You are jealous, aren't you!" he clenches his jaw and looks out at the crowd. I snap my fingers in his face, "Look at me when I'm talking to you. Are you jealous? Answer me." and just like that, he grabs my face with both hands and kisses me. I stand in shock for what feels like a minute, and just when he is about to pull away, I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him back, opening my mouth to let him in. He presses closer to me, and my senses are so filled with him that it's like he's taking over, dominating every fiber of my being. He is so strong, so intense as he claims my mouth. And I claim his right back. I gently bite his lip when he comes up for air, and he examines every minute detail of my face, committing it to his perfect Drell memory.  
>"How about we get out of here?" His voice sounds husky, and my heart practically beats out of my chest.<br>"Sounds great, actually." He takes my hand and leads us to the door, intertwining his fingers with mine.


	6. Chapter 6: Lab Rat

_**Sorry this one is so short but ya'll that have read this far, thanks for your support! If you have any edits, please leave a comment. Not really sure if this is good or not, but I'll try to post regularly. Again Thank you!**_

As we exit the club, I get a nervous twinge deep in my gut. The door to The Duct closes behind us, and the sound echoes off the walls. For some reason Thane looks troubled, and isn't meeting my eyes as he holds fast to my hand, leading me through the alleys to our car. The nervous feeling gets worse. _Why the hell is it so quiet?_ I start to shake, and I feel a stabbing sensation in my temples. I come to a full stop, making Thane jerk back. His hold on my hand is very tight. "Thane, something is very wrong, I can feel it." A wave of nausea hits me, and I bend over, retching. Thane comes to my side instantly as I fall to the ground in pain. "What's wrong with me?" He still won't meet my eyes. "Thane, what have you done?" He closes his eyes and looks away, and my vision starts to fade.  
>"You are very unique, Shepard. I was paid to bring you in for study. For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I wish we could..." But I never got to hear the rest, the black that played at the corners of my vision threatened to overwhelm me as I see three dark figures come, and take me away...<p>

*Beep...Beep...Beep...* "Ungggh" I groan as I try to sit up, only to find that I am strapped to a table, with a light shining in my eyes. I close my eyes quickly, and try to asses my situation. The table under me is metal, cool to the touch. I turn my head and look at my surroundings, bare except for some sadistic looking tools sitting on the table beside me. As I try to get up again, I am hit with a wave of intense pain. Gasping, I crane my head to look at my torso, shocked to find what looks like a recent surgery incision, just over the spot where my uterus would be._ Oh God, no... they wouldn't._ I bite back the sobs rising in my throat... _oh God please don't tell me they took it out._ I lift my head, and find three more incisions marking my body._ What did they do to me? Breathe, Jade... think. What could they want with you? You're only the best assassin in the Seven Galaxies, Krios be damned. Why, Krios... my friend, my brother, my first love... why would you sell me out?_ Just then the door opens and closes just as quickly, and yet, there is no one there. "Hello? Please, what's happening? Where the fuck am I and what the FUCK do you want from me?" I am practically screaming. I hear a slight mechanical whine as a camera near my head is disabled.  
>"Hello, Shepard." the disembodied, female voice comes from my right. "I hear you've been looking for me." I see the air waver where the voice is coming from.<br>"Who are you? Where am I?" I narrow my eyes at the spot the voice is coming from.  
>"I am a friend, and I'm here to get you out of here... But I suppose you want all your parts put back, so you will have to wait for the right time, or you won't be coming out of here alive. Do you understand?" I nod slowly.<br>"What are they doing to me?" I can hear her sigh as she moves to my left side, and gently place a hand on my incisions.  
>"From what I've seen? You apparently have the right genetic code to have what they call an 'adaptation' done to you. I believe they are going to try to open your minds capacity to unlock full functionality. A normal human only uses 20% of their brain power, but from what I've seen of the other subjects, hidden in the unused parts of your mind are certain... abilities. The Protheans were the first to discover their mind's full capabilities, and the people here are doing the same to you." <em>What the fuck? Mind powers? These people MUST be Looney-tunes.<em>  
>"What is your name, and how did you find me?" she gently removes her hand from my incisions.<br>"My name is Kasumi Goto, and I heard of your interest in me, so I decided to investigate. I saw what the Drell did, but I couldn't get to you in time to warn you."  
>"I see... what did they take out, Miss Goto?"<br>"It's just Kasumi, and they took out some of your... I believe they called them 'Genetically Imperfect' organs, and are currently bringing them to full-functionality." I close my eyes at that. _Well, At least I won't be sterile any more._ I start to laugh, but it rips at my stitches, so I stop. "That would include your heart, your kidneys, and your uterus."  
>"How the hell am I still alive then?" I hear her tap on a machine that is pumping fluid into my veins.<em> Well, apparently I DID have a heart condition... what a relief.<em> I snort a laugh. "So... when do you think they'll put me back together." she is quiet for a moment.  
>"Soon I think, I could check, but I don't really feel comfortable leaving you here alone." I feel strangely thankful that she will be watching over me.<br>"Do you have any idea who these people are?" I hear her take a deep breath._ She must think I will take it badly, obviously, or she would've told me by now._  
>"You are on Pragia, in a Cerberus Genetic Research Facility." I gasp. <em>God damn space pirates! How dare they betray me! I gave those bastards everything, and they still want more? Typicall Alliance bull. How could I be so stupid?<em> Just as I am about to say something, the door bursts open, and Kai Leng enters the room, smirking.  
>"Why, hello there Jade! What on Earth are you doing here?" He asks innocently.<br>"Spare me the bullshit, Leng. Tell me what the fuck is going on and why the hell you've got me strapped to the table?" The smirk is gone, replaced by a cold, hard stare.  
>"And here I thought you had a thing for being tied up... or is that only with your Drell lover?" <em>Well shit, he heard everything I told Thane. Hell, Thane was probably the one who told him.<em>  
>"Go fuck yourself, I never said we had anything serious. I can't help it if I'm so gorgeous you fell in love. That's not my problem, it's yours..." I am cut off as he slaps me, hard, across the face.<br>"You would save yourself a lot of trouble is you would just shut your whore mouth, Jade." I growl at him through clenched teeth. _Oh... now you're gonna die Leng... I hope you're ready._  
>"I thought you liked me with my mouth open, or was I mistaken?" He grabs me by the throat and slams my head onto the table. "Is that the best you can do?" He does it again, using his biotics to dent the table with my head. I spit blood in his face. "That is the best you can do, isn't it? You probably have orders to make sure not too much damage is done to your new lab rat, huh?" He curses under his breath, and I laugh.<br>"You bitch, when this is over, you're gonna get what you deserve!" He presses his mouth hard on mine. " I can't wait to utilize all your future upgrades, pet." He roughly grabs my girly bits, placing his other hand at my throat. "Then I can have all the fun I want with you, and you will be powerless to stop it." He throws his head back, and laughs, his hands still digging into my throat. I can barely breathe but I manage to gather my biotics, and rip off a restraint, punching him in the balls with the full force of my raw biotic power. He quickly releases me, and falls to the floor, screaming.  
>"Good luck having any kind of fun now, Leng." I laugh as people in lab coats retrain me and pull Kai out of the room. Having spent the last of my energy, I can barely put up a fight as they restrain my arms again, and sedate me. Just before I black out, after the lab coats left, I hear Kasumi approach my head.<br>"I'm not sure if that was entirely wise, but you certaintly made my day, Shepard." I smile weakly, and surrender to the black abyss.


	7. Chapter 7: A Daring Rescue

_***Ok so I reviewed my work and realized that chapter 3 and 4 were the same, so I fixed that and put the proper one in chapter four. So it's all fixed now :P I'm trying something new this time, so if the font or spacing is off, sorry. And again, thanks for reading this far! :D**_

_**P.S. Bringing in one of our favorite characters!***_

* * *

><p>The piercing screech of the alarm drags me up into conciseness. I feel my restraints being released one by one, and a presence hovering over me. BAM! A palm slams into my face full force and I wake fully. I slam my hands over my ears and curl into a ball on the metal table. "Come on, Jade! You have to hurry, we don't have much time!" She grabs me roughly and stands me up. I am wearing nothing but a hospital gown and an IV. I rip the IV out of my arm and wrap it in a strip of gown. I tie it off as I follow her through the lab. Through the glass windows on either side, test subjects are ripping apart the lab coats and... eating them? One of the subjects in question looks up at me grinning lopsidedly as she chews on a chunk of scientist. My eyes widen and I pick up my pace.<br>"So I take it you let out the Lab Rats." she nods, keeping a brisk pace through the disturbingly empty hallways.  
>"I had an opportunity and I took it. Just in time too, they were about to start the gene cell therapy. I've seen what they do for that. It looks... painful." I grimace as she kicks open a door into a hall of storage bins. She heads straight to the back and pulls out a bin, slamming it on the table in front of me. "These are all your belongings. Get dressed." I pull out my party dress from the night club.<br>"Seriously?" she scoffs.  
>"Well would you rather make a daring escape wearing that," she gestures to the gown "Or this?" I incline my head and strip out of the hospital gown and into my club gear. I slip on the heels and strap on my medigel dispenser. Kasumi hands me a gun and I take it, as well as my remaining things out of the bin. "Oh, and here's your... umm, Omni tool." She hands me a bundle of micro wires and gooey interface projectors. Looking at my arm I then notice that the scar from the initial instillation looks fresh. Those Cerberus Bastards!<br>"Well fuck me."  
>"Cute, come on." She motions for me to follow and jogs to the door, checking both hallways before motioning me forward. It's very quiet now, almost too quiet, and the click of my heels can be heard clearly through the now empty, bloodstained halls. I step over a body at the security checkpoint, chunks of flesh have been ripped off and his face is barely distinguishable from the pile of remains scattered about. I quickly grab the keys off him, trying not to vomit, and clear us through the door. With one hand on my gun, and the other tightly grasping the security key card, I cautiously make my way through the cargo storage. The farther up we go, the louder the sound of pounding rain and thunder gets. I shoot Kasumi a questioning glance. "Pragia has dense, jungle like vegetation that can grow full size in under 24 hours, this is caused by the near constant rain storms blowing in from the coast. The landing bay is on the top, that's where our shuttle is waiting for us." I shoot her a glance.<br>"You brought in a third party?" She nods once and continues on to scope ahead.  
>"It was necessary. As a precaution all Cerberus owned ships were rigged with explosive devices. If facial recognition fails... boom. Big explosion, very dramatic. That happened last month." I stop, my hold on the gun wavering. I straighten and lower my gun.<br>"Kasumi... how long have I been here?" she goes stiff, and angles her head in my direction.  
>"How long do you think you've been here?"<br>"Four days" she sighs and walks to me, stopping not but two inches from me, voice lowered so we wont be heard over the pounding rain.  
>"Jade, you've been here for 5 years"<br>"I... what?"  
>"You've only been awake four times since so yes, to you it's only been four days. But to everyone else... well they all think that Shepard skipped town, retired or worse. You've a lot of work to do when we leave here. We can't trust your old information network, but we should definitely keep you finding the clients instead of the other way around." I nod, feeling numb and cod with shock. My God... five years. Five years of horrible tests and modifications to my body. Why? So I can have the same powers the Prothean's do? Is the war even being waged any more? If it's over then who won? What happened to Thane? Thane... that fucking traitorous bastard. He needs to die for what he did to me! The numbness is replaced by the fire of anger, and the burning need for revenge. I storm past Kasumi and onto the roof, stopping before I am in the line of sight of the waiting shuttle. The rain pours down with a fury, fueling my rage, and soaking me to the bone. By the time Kasumi makes it to the roof, the steady pounding of the rain on my body has calmed me enough that I can carry on a conversation without ripping apart a bulkhead. She takes one look at me, sulking in the pouring rain, completely soaked, and shakes her head. She gently takes my arm and guides me to the landing pad. The door to the shuttle slides open to reveal a Quarian holding a medical scanner. Suddenly, I feel light headed and completely drained of energy. I collapse into a heap on the floor of the shuttle, and the Quarian woman pulls me the rest of the way in as Kasumi slides the door shut behind her. They lay me on my back as the shuttle takes off, and the woman starts to take scans.<br>"I see they took out her Omni tool." Kasumi nods.  
>"Shouldn't be a problem, I'll get her the newest model ASAP."<br>"Thanks Tali. Knew I could count on you." Kasumi tells the woman. Why is that name and voice so familiar. Kasumi enters the cockpit and slides the door closed behind her, leaving Tali and I alone.  
>"I don't suppose you would remember me, Jade Michigan Shepard. But I was a good friend of your mother. 'After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began.'" I can see her smile through the helmet. My eyes burn as I fight back tears. Here I thought I had no family left, and Aunt Zhorra shows up out of the blue, taking care of me like usual.<br>"I never thought I'd see you again." She grabs my hand, and I weakly squeeze it.  
>"Well, you did kind of disappear for a few years. Then I had no way to get in contact with you while I was negotiating with the Geth. And once I finally got away, you disappeared again. I had given up all hope of ever seeing you again until Kasumi contacted me. She took pictures of you while you were out and sent me status reports when she could get to you. We planned this out perfectly it seems. Now hold still while I implant your new Omni tool." I bite my lip as she guides the laser through my skin. She flashes me an apologetic smile, and slides the new, complex webbing into place, gently massaging out the kinks till it lays comfortably under my skin. Then she stitches the incision up and applies a bandage. "Remember when you got your first Omni tool?" I nod, grinning sheepishly at the memory as she lays my head on her lap. "I remember that day... you were so excited, you were finally going to be able to contact the outside world on your own, and you were oh so excited to have me install it for you that very day. Couldn't wait to make a trip to the hospital, huh? You had to have it right then." She laughs. "You came bounding into my office and handed it to me. You were so shocked wehn I pulled out the scalpel." We laugh together, her hand tightly gripping mine, the other stroking my hair. "When i made the first incision you were so brave, you didn't even flinch when it snagged on that surprise nerve bundle." She beams down at me. "We were both so proud of you, your parents and I. Before I left, I had all these plans of taking you to Rannoch and letting you see my family home. I was going to teach you all the things I taught your mother. You're the daughter I never had, and I was so sure that there would be more time. That I would not only get to see you grow up, but see your kids grow up as well. I should've been there. I should've died with them. It's where I belonged after all." I grip her hand tightly.<br>"No Tali, you belonged with your people, helping with the negotiations with the Geth. Dying with my parents would've truly left me with no one, and I'm glad you weren't there. I can't change the past and neither can you, and I know for a fact that Mom would not want you to think like this. You were her best friend, and I know that she was very glad that you were not there so that someone could look after me when they were gone. But when Thane came along... I'm so sorry, Tali. I chose to go with him because I hated being weak, and not able to fight the people killing my family and friends. All I could think about was what I could've done had someone had just taught me how to use this." I flare my biotics across my skin. "You should've seen him Tali, he moved like water, graceful yet deadly. Very, very deadly. And Dad trusted him, so did Mom. I was going to come back, when I was strong, but I couldn't face you. I could've told you that I was alive at least, told you where I was going and what I was going to do but I didn't because I was afraid that you'd stop me and..." She grabs me and hauls me into her lap, rocking me back and forth like a child.  
>"It's alright, little love. I understand." She starts to sing the lullaby she used to sing when Mom was at work and I got nightmares. Despite all the pain and horror I had endured until that moment, and the overwhelming sense of panic, I felt extremely safe in my surrogate mother's arms. Gently rocking me, she runs her hand through my hair and sings me into a deep peaceful sleep.<p> 


End file.
